The day after tomorrow, Feb. 2, is the Chinese New Year's Eve. I (Japanese) don't really celebrate the Chinese New Year (Japanese used to celebrate it a long time ago), but it is one f the important holidays for my Taiwanese husband. We were supposed to celebrate it at a restaurant tomorrow, but according to the weather forecast we'll having 2 snow storms starting tomorrow (until Thursday morning!) and we were afraid we wouldn't be able to go out. So we decided to go to Wang's Fast Food in Somerville to buy some dumplings (Chinese/Taiwanese people eat dumplings in the New Year) instead of going out on the eve. We also had our dinner tonight there.

搾菜肉絲麺（ザーサイとポークのスープヌードル）。今日はお肉がいつもよりたくさん入っている気が。

The pork and pickle soup noodles. I think we got more meat than usual..

葱油餅。

The scallion pancake.

何の魚か知りませんが、魚のフライ。夫が注文したのですが、生臭くて私は1口しか食べませんでした。

I don't know what kind of fish, but my husband ordered this fried fish. But it was kind of smelly and I didn't like it.

そしてもちろん餃子。今回も蝦仁三鮮水餃（海老とポークの水餃子）を注文。冷凍の餃子（50個入りを2袋）もお土産用に購入。
And of course dumplings. Again we ordered the shrimp delight with pork dumplings. We also bought frozen dumplings (50 pieces x 2 bags) to enjoy them at home.

After the dinner my husband insisted to eat something sweet, so on the way home we went to Cold Stone Creamery to get some ice cream. He ordered the medium size, then got this huge one. But it was very good!

After the dinner, we went to 101 Bakery, a Taiwanese style bakery, a couple of doors down from the restaurant. We got several pastries and bread, and also a cup of hot milk tea (for me) and a cup of warm jelly made of Chinese herbs (for my husband).

Then we continued walking and found Sub City, a tiny shop that sells Vietnamese sandwiches (Banh Mi), was still open (it was supposed to be closed at 6 pm, but it was still open at 7 pm when we went there..), so we bought 2 sandwiches for breakfast tomorrow.

And this one is the cold cut. These were meant for tomorrow's breakfast, but my husband couldn't wait and ate one right after we came back home, and I took one bite as well. The bread was crusty outside, the beef was very flavorful, and the vegetables were very fresh and good.

My husband ordered the breakfast sampler. It came with pancakes, too (and of course you can eat as many pancakes as you want!). But we were too full to finish our own plates... I wonder how many pancakes people can eat???

On the way back from the lunch at the Indian restaurant the other day, one of my colleague (from India) mentioned that in Boston no restaurants served Indian street foods which she missed a lot (you could get them in NJ). According to her description, those foods sounded terrific, and I was thinking some day I'd like to try some. Then only a few days later, I heard a new Indian restaurant just opened (on Jan. 14) in Burlington. And it turned out that dishes in their menu were what my colleague was talking about - Indian street foods/fast foods. Since their website says they have only a limited number of tables, we decided to order several dishes to go.

So here are what we ordered: Khasta Kachori Chaat, one of the Indian street foods they offer. These are small, crisp fried dough stuffed with lentils and some other vegetables. Yogurt, tamarind chutney and green chutney (cilantro) came with this dish.

This is called Aloo Palak, a kind of green curry with pureed spinach and potatoes that are simmered in spices. I have tasted similar dishes in other Indian restaurants, but this one was less oily, which I liked.

This one is Paneer Pasanda, cheese and cashew nuts cooked in the gravy with fresh Indian spices. It was slightly sweet, and I have never had something like this. But I loved it! Other people also liked this dish.

チャパティ (の一種) とライスも付いてきました。このチャパティもハーブやスパイスが入っていて香り豊かです。

A kind of chappati and basmati rice also came with curry dish. This chappati had herbs and spices and very flavorful.

And finally the dessert, Rasmalai, home-made cheese patties in sweetened milk and garnished with pistachio. I liked the taste of the milk, but was not a big fan of the texture of the cheese - it was spongy.. But overall I like their menu, they are more home-style and different from typical Indian restaurants. I'd like to try different dishes next time!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Today we had something to do in Allston, so we stopped by at Bon Chon, a new Korean restaurant (well, it used to be in the same area but it was closed then reopened recently). It is well known for their fried chickens. I once had their chickens when I visited my friend in NJ (it was a takeout), and liked it, so I was looking forward to trying it in Boston.

I was a bit surprised when I looked at their menu - although it is the Korean restaurant, more than 50% of their dishes are Japanese. They only had Japanese beer (+ some American brands). I got a little suspicious...

I refuse to order Japanese foods at non-Japanese restaurant (because I know I get disappointed), so we decided to order a seafood Korean pancake from the very limited Korean menu. It was uncooked inside. I had two small pieces, then my husband ate the rest...

This is the combination plate (wings and drums), medium size. We asked for half & half of spicy sauce and soy/ginger sauce. I heard that these are cook to order and it usually takes ~30 min. But this plate was served within 15 min of our order. My suspicion grew bigger, but I tried it anyway. Mmmm, it was not piping hot as I expected. It was just "warm". Were these cooked in advance? It was very crunchy outside and I liked the texture, but the meat was rather dry, and I think they try to mask chicken taste (or old oil flavor?) with the strong flavors of the sauce. I would say even KFC makes juicier chickens at much cheaper price...

After the lunch we headed to the nearby Japanese fish market called "Sakanaya" (meaning fish market in English). This shop just opened on January 15, and the owner (Japanese) used to work at Tsukiji fish market (very famous fish market in Japan).

いろいろなお刺身が売られています。お値段は安くはありませんが、新鮮でおいしいならちょっとぐらい余分にお金を出してもいいかなと思います。

Wide variety of sashimi-grade fish were in the showcase. They are not cheap, but as long as they are fresh and tasty, I don't mind paying a little bit of extra.

This time, we just bought some raw tuna. It was very good. At this time, they sell only raw fish, but soon will have grilled fish, etc. They also can prepare sushi and other food depending on your budget. I'll order some sushi next time.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

It has been brutally cold in the Boston area lately (I think in this winter it is colder than usual..). The temperature goes down to below 0 °F in the mornings/at nights, and even during the day time, it is at 10~15 °F. What happens to the global warming??

It is too cold for Poirot to go out and play, and he prefers to stay at his favorite spot (in front of the electric heater). He looks very funny when he sleeps like this, burying his face between his front legs.

カメラを向けると一瞬目を覚ましましたがその後すぐまた眠ってしまいました。早く暖かくなって外を走り回れるようになったらいいのにね。

When I tried to take a picture of him, he woke up for a second, but then immediately fell asleep again. Hope it gets warmer soon so that you can run around outside.

About Me

Thank you for visiting my blog. I was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan, and currently live in the Boston area with my husband from Taiwan and Poirot, the pug (male). We love to travel different places and eat good food of any kind (from street foods to Michelin 3 star restaurants). My articles are mostly written in Japanese, but I'll gradually add English version, as well.